


Time and Fallen Leaves (시간과 낙엽).

by akutagawas



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: "When you kiss your soulmate for the first time your entire body glows", (But not that oblivious), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But he'll take what he can get, Eventual Happy Ending, Jongin is clueless, M/M, Pining, Sehun is a sad little baby in love, Slow Burn-ish?, Soulmates, from jongin specifically, jongin is oblivious bless him, no beta we die like men!, sehun needs a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-11 19:11:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18430304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akutagawas/pseuds/akutagawas
Summary: Sehun was Jongin’s best friend. And Jongin was Sehun’s. Nothing could change that fact. Not even the girls that Jongin would bring home every week to their shared apartment. Not even the way Sehun’s heart would break every time he would wish that those girls were him.In which Sehun and Jongin both learn what it takes to be best friends, and eventually lovers. (They kiss at the end).// Soulmates AU. //





	Time and Fallen Leaves (시간과 낙엽).

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from: Time and Fallen Leaves - AKMU
> 
> Hello, if you're one of the readers who'd been waiting for EXODUS to be updated, I apologize if this was not what you expected. The reason for my prolonged absence was because of my mental health spiraling down so bad that I ended up seeking professional help. On that note, I'm still going to continue the series, but this is just one little nugget I would like to post for Sehun's 25/6th birthday :) 
> 
> #HappySehunDay
> 
> (dialogue is not my strongest point - well, so is writing altogether - but besides that, please be gentle) <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sehun had always experienced difficulty upon making friends.

_I hold onto my hungry heart and fall fast asleep_  
(허기진 맘을 붙잡고 곤히 잠이 든다)  
_The flowers and trees of my heart are withering_  
(가슴의 꽃과 나무 시들어지고)  
_The memories are buried too deep, I can’t take them out_  
(깊게 묻혀 꺼내지 못할 기억)  
  


Age 5.  
  
Sehun had always experienced difficulty upon making friends.  
  
It was either the children he encountered were too noisy for his liking, or he was too quiet for their liking. Or maybe it was both. But at the tender age of five years old, the only people Sehun considered to be his friends were his parents (with their dog, Vivi) and the nice old lady living across their house. Sehun had attempted multiple times to approach his peers and initiate conversations with them at school. Yet he would often, to no avail, find himself clamming up last minute—usually due to anxiousness and insecurity.  
  
Sehun was much smaller than the rest of them, limbs too thin and frail for him to do the usual activities kids his age would typically be doing. He also had a lisp that made him feel self-conscious of the way he spoke. They probably thought that he was weak and vulnerable compared to them, something to make fun of. He was afraid of being made fun of. Kids could be cruel, after all, could you blame him?  
  
His difficulty interacting with kids his age did not go unnoticed by his parents.  
  
His mother would work very hard with him on improving his interaction skills at night. The two of them going through varying simulations of conversations on just about anything. On the other hand, his dad would tutor him lessons on speech and writing. That of which were much more advanced compared to what was being taught to Sehun at school.  
  
Sehun could recall spending a night practicing with his mother and then ending up breaking down in her arms.  
  


-

  
“H-hi, my name is Sehun and I l-like dogs.”  
  
“I have a dog and his name is Vivi.”  
  
Sehun found himself stumbling on his words. And his lisp didn’t make things any better.  
  
“That’s great, Sehun!”  
  
Sehun and his mother continued to converse, with Sehun occasionally slipping on some words. Not once did his mother negatively react to his slip-ups, but Sehun knew that he was beginning to wear her out with his failures; his father too. At least, that’s what he thought deep inside.  
  
“How old will you be turning next year?” His mother was always so patient with him, never going ahead of him and always letting him finish on his own.  
  
“I will be turning… s-s-six…” Sehun had already begun to feel shame sprouting up from within him.  
  
_Why couldn’t he just be normal, like everybody else? Why couldn’t he be like all the other kids? Why did he have to be born with a stupid lisp?_  
  
He hated feeling like a bother. He knew that his parents were becoming more and more flustered and agitated the longer time passed by without him making any progress. He was disappointing them, and he hated it.  
  
His mother noticed the tremble in his bottom lip and the moisture forming in his eyes, “Sehun, baby, what’s wrong?”  
  
She cupped his cheeks with her tender hands and scooted closer to him. Sehun unconsciously grappled tiny fists onto her shirt.  
  
“Mommy… I’m s-sorry for being… a f-f-failure,” He hiccupped.  
  
His mother gently wiped the tears that streamed from his red eyes as he proceeded to cry harder.  
  
His father, upon hearing the distressed sobs from across the hall, found himself at the back of Sehun. His father rubbed his palm soothingly across Sehun’s spine. Quietly shushing him as Sehun tried to calm himself down.  
  
His parents shared concerned looks among one another, with Sehun cradled between the two of them. Sehun barely ever voiced out whenever he was upset, to say that his parents were shocked was an understatement.  
  
“Sehun, is that what you really believe your father and I think of you?” His mother’s voice was always so calm, not an ounce of anything but gentleness could be heard from her voice. He couldn’t bear to look into her eyes, he was embarrassed to let her see just how childish he was being through the mess of tears on his face. He whimpered and hid his face in the crook of his mother’s neck.  
  
He nodded pitifully against her chest before letting out a choked “Y-yes, mommy, s-sorry”.  
  
“Oh, sweetie, look at me,” His mother slid a hand under his chin and delicately pulled him away from her embrace. He let out a whine at that.  
  
“Sehun, your father and I think the world of you. We love you and we would do everything we could to make things easier for you. No matter how much work we have to do, we do it willingly. And it’s all because we love you so, so, much. You’re our little angel.”  
  
Sehun felt his breathing slowly regulate. His mother always knew what to say to calm him down.  
  
Her hands returned to his face only to smooth the crease formed between his eyebrows.  
  
“Now we wouldn’t want you to get wrinkles at such an early age, would we?” She jokingly winked at him, making him giggle.  
  


-

  
He was incredibly grateful for his parents’ patience and persistence with helping him. But if Sehun were completely honest with himself, despite his parents having the best intentions, their efforts made little to no difference on his ability to interact with others. While he made great leaps in his knowledge of speech and writing, he was still incapable of putting those skills into practice.  


**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave a kudos and/or comment! I am open to any and all criticism. We'll be meeting Jongin in the next chapter ehe ;3
> 
> Happy birthday again to our best boy, Sehunnie. I love you. Thank you for all the happiness.


End file.
